UNCCD COP16 opening statement by Ibrahim Thiaw

Monsieur le Président de la Conférence des Parties, 

Altesses royales,

Excellences,

Distingués délégués,

Mesdames et messieurs, 

Ahlan wa sahlan, wa marhaba en Arabie Saoudite.  Une terre où l’hospitalité et la générosité ne sont pas simplement des traditions, mais un mode de vie, profondément ancrées dans la société et la culture à travers l’histoire.

À l’image du palmier dattier, qui s’élève contre vents et marées dans le désert, offrant ses fruits à ceux qui s’en approchent, les Saoudiens sont répuétés pour leur cœur ouvert et leur gentillesse inébranlable.

 Que dire du chameau, à l’honneur de cette Année internationale des camélidés, qui endure les conditions les plus extrêmes du désert, symbole par excellence de la résilience et de la persévérance? 

Ici, l’hospitalité perdure à travers les âges, accueillant les invités du monde entier avec chaleur et respect. 

L’acte d’offrir des dattes — avec du café arabe— est une façon de vous faire sentir chez vous, en partageant non seulement la nourriture, mais aussi un morceau de leur patrimoine et de leur fierté.

Je sais que vous partagerez mon expérience et que vous sentirez chez vous pendant tout votre séjour en Arabie saoudite.

Monsieur le Président, 

 Notre planète est rendue malade par la dégradation des terres. Près de 40% de son corps est déjà affecté. 

La maladie progresse à un rythme effrayant. Chaque année, des terres saines dont la superficie fait la taille de l’Égypte sont infestées.

Alors que son immunité baisse, des virus opportunistes provoquent un cocktail épidémique inédit : sécheresses, tempêtes et poussières de sables, pénuries d’eau ; le tout exacerbé par le changement climatique et la perte de la biodiversité.

Ce décor, aussi lugubre qu’il puisse paraître, pourrait cependant être perçu comme un verre à moitié plein, plutôt qu’à moitié vide. Nous disposons de vaccins et d'outils de traitement accessibles à un prix raisonnable. 

Mr President, 

This is not just the third and final COP under my tenure. It’s a pivotal moment. 

Over the  years, we have seen land restoration emerge as one of the most effective tools to address some of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change, food insecurity, economic inequality, forced migration and even global instability.

Together, we have accomplished a lot. 

However, our work is far from finished.

Indeed, scientific evidence is unambiguous: the way we manage our land today will directly determine the future of life on Earth.

Land restoration is first and foremost about securing the foundation of our economy, security, and humanity.

In this regard, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its vision and leadership in elevating the global land restoration and drought resilience agenda; whether through the G20, hosting this landmark COP and building its legacy, the Saudi Green Initiative, or, most recently, the Middle East Green Initiative.

The UNCCD call to address desertification, land degradation, and drought is no longer a whisper—it is being recognized at the highest levels of global decision-making, signaling a global recognition of its transformative power.

We have seen how the land and drought agendas have been at the core of important discussions not only at the UN General Assembly, but also at the G20, the G7, BRICS, the World Economic Forum, and the Arab Coordination Group, to name just a few.

Major large-scale land restoration and drought initiatives, such as the Great Green Wall in Africa, the G20 Global Land Restoration Initiative, the International Drought Resilience Alliance have built their approaches on the foundations laid by UNCCD Parties. 

We are glad to note the powerful impacts of our COPs both in India (Initiative of PM Narendra Modi to restore 26 M ha) and in Côte d’Ivoire (Abidjan Legacy Programme of President Alassane Ouattara, costed at 3 billion US dollars). 

We welcome and applaud the important Saudi-led Legacy of COP16, that will be unveiled shortly.

These efforts have generated political momentum and a broader understanding that addressing land degradation goes beyond ‘ecology’; land restoration is primarily about nurturing humanity itself.

And that is what COP16 is all about.

I recall visiting the haunting expanse of the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth-largest freshwater lake, shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. 

Standing there, where life once flourished, I saw a barren wasteland—an environmental disaster of unimaginable scale.

It was a poignant reminder of what is at stake.

Every second, somewhere in the world, we lose an equivalent of four football fields to land degradation.

Land and soil loss are robbing poor families of nutritious food, and children of a safe future.

Land degradation aggravates poverty, disrupts food security, impacts health, and even forces families to migrate.

It is the land and soil beneath our feet that grows the cotton for the clothes we wear, secures the food on our plates, and anchors the economies we rely on.

The cost of land degradation seeps in every corner of their lives. They see the rising price of groceries, in unexpected energy surcharges, and in the growing strain on their communities.

I have spoken to farmers, mothers, and young people who are living this reality every day.

Their resilience is inspiring, but their struggles remind us that land degradation and drought do not recognize borders.

Power blackouts multiply as dams go dry due to drought.

Nuclear plants in Europe have struggled to stay operational as rivers dry up.

Global supply chains falter in the Panama Canal due to insufficient water; or in the Suez Canal when sand and dust storms make navigation difficult. 

By 2050, three in four people globally -up to seven and half billion people- will feel the impact of drought.

The stories I have heard and the places I have seen make one thing clear: we must act now to restore our lands. 

They are the foundation of our everything.

For the first time, through the UNCCD national reporting, we now have an evidence-based estimate of the alarming status and trends in land degradation.

According to the UNCCD data, in the four years to 2019, healthy land the size of India and Nigeria combined was affected by Land Degradation.

Agriculture, over-grazing, urbanization, mining, deforestation, and other factors are driving this decline, compounded by climate change.

But a deeper injustice and inequalities exist: those who farm often do not own the land. Women only own 13% of agricultural land, for example. When they do own, its often a marginal land.

Those who produce are often at the very bottom of global value chains and rarely benefit from them.

Rural communities are being left behind, while the wealth created from their labor often fills someone else’s basket.

So COP16 is our reliance on land. But it is also about resilience. 

COP 16 is specifically about drought resilience. 

Multiple articles of the Convention text refer to drought. 

The last seven COPs have had decisions related to drought. 

And COP16 will hopefully be remembered as the Conference where the most important decisions on drought were made.

We are all gathered here to make COP16 a historic moment; the world expects Parties to adopt a bold decision that can help turn the tide on the most pervasive and the most disruptive environmental disaster.

Drought is a slow onset, a silent killer.

Drought wreaks havoc on nations’ economies.

It provokes or amplifies massive wildfires.

It disrupts food production and water security.

Drought disrupts energy production, both hydro and nuclear, two low-carbon sources.

Droughts have become more frequent, more intense and have expanded into new territories.

No country is immune.

No biome is spared, not even tropical or boreal forests.

So, after 30 years of deliberations, including six consecutive years of intergovernmental working groups, all eyes are on us. 

This is a lot of pressure, but we must seize this pivotal moment.

Together, we can reverse the trends of land degradation and build a more resilient world to drought.

Together we can make a real difference in peoples’ lives.

Together, we can unlock the true potential of our land and protect our Planet/Home.

Mr. President,

Before I conclude, allow me to express UNCCD’s deep gratitude to the outgoing Presidency from Côte d’Ivoire for not only hosting us in Abidjan in 2022, but for successfully leading the COP Bureau for the last two and a half years.

While negotiations at COP16 are led by governments, I want to pay tribute to members of civil society, other non-state actors, including business for their unprecedented contributions and participation.

Allow me to also express my gratitude to the UN family. Thank you for your unwavering support. 

My gratitude go to all Executives of UN agencies and Treaties, to Intergovernmental Organizations, Academia, Financial institutions who have played a key role in helping design and run the Thematic Days of this COP.

To all exhibitors in beautiful pavilions, to all who populated the most beautiful Green Zone I have ever seen, to all invisible hands who spent endless hours to make this Conference happen, I only have one word: Shukran!

بالنسبة لبلدنا المضيف، المملكة العربية السعودية ملكاً وشعباً، فأرجو أن تتقبلوا منا التعبيرعن امتناننا. 

اسمحوا لي أن أكرر الشكر مرتين أو ثلاث مرات

شكراً لكم على حسن ضيافتكم.

وشكراً لكم على كرمكم. 

 وشكرا لكم جميعا على اهتمامكم الكريم

وسلام عليكم ورحمة الله